These two lines appear to be extravagant praise of Shapur’s abilities. It is impossible to know how much Nezami knew about Mani, the founder of Manichaeism (a religion which is based on the dual nature of the world: good and evil), who was born 216 AD and died in prison in 274. Besides being a prophet, Mani was also known to be a remarkable artist. ¶It is odd that Nezami named the artist in this poem Shapur, for Shapur was the name of the Persian king who sentenced Mani to death. Furthermore, the word مژده [mozhdah] means ‘good news.’ Did Nezami use this to refer to Mani, who was called بشیر [bashīr] ‘bringer of good news’ in Arabic? Whatever Nezami’s intention, the gist of these two lines seems to mean that Shapur was a painter in the style of Mani and a limner in the style of Euclid.

ز نــــقٌـاشی بـــه مــــــانـــی مــــژده داده

بـــــــه رسامـــــی در اقـــلــــیدس گـشاده

3

[Shapur is] a fine calligrapher, a deft painter,

From whose mind, even without a quill, images spring up.

قلم زن چابــــکـــی صورتگـــری چُست

که بی کلک از خیالش نقش مـــی رست

4

He had such skill in delicacy

That he could with delicacy draw upon water.

The word آبدستی [ābdastī], skill, is composed of two words: آب [āb], water, and دست[dast], hand. Nezami expands the image of water, pivoting his wordplay upon the word for delicacy in each line.

چـنان در لــطف بـــــودش آبــــدســتــی

کـــه بــــر آب از لـــطافت نـــقش بستی

5

He kissed the ground before the throne of Parviz;

He uttered these words to hang one’s heart upon:

زمیــن بــوســـید پـــیش تـــخت پــرویز

فــــرو گفت ایـــن ســـخـنهـای دلاویـــز

6

“Should the king of the world order me,

I shall tell one percent of what I know.”

کـــه گـــر فـــــرمان دهـــد شاه جهانــم

بـــگــویــم صـد یک از چیزی که دانم

7

Khosrow the brave king nodded,

Saying, “Tell me warmly and don’t let the time grow cold.”

Warm گرم [garm] implies speed and force. Perhaps the idea is to serve the words up warm before they grow cold. In other words: don’t beat around the bush.